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MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) - The number of Madrid residents
rejecting AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has risen
sharply since Spain limited its use in people under 60 in
response to concerns over adverse reactions, the regional public
health chief said on Friday.
Spain introduced the restriction on Wednesday after the
European Medicines Agency reported a link between the shots and
a rare form of brain blood clots affecting roughly one in every
100,000 people under 60 vaccinated.
The following day just 10,800 Madrid residents turned up to
get an AstraZeneca injection out of more than 29,000
appointments scheduled, Antonio Zapatero told a news conference,
implying a rejection rate of around 63%.
As of Thursday night, only around 45% of people had
confirmed their vaccine appointments for Friday, he added.
Prior to the change in guidance, the rejection rate was
around 2%.
Zapatero blamed the national health ministry, which had
previously been administering the drug to key workers aged over
18, for sowing confusion and putting people off the shot.
Nevertheless, long queues formed outside the city's Wizink
sports arena, now converted into a mass vaccination centre.
"This is phenomenal," said Pilar, a retired nurse hired to
help out with the inoculation drive. "The more we administer
vaccines, the sooner we can return to normality."
Spain aims to have around half its population of 47 million
fully immunised by late July. So far around 6.5% have received a
full course of two shots.
Maintaining public confidence in the vaccine is a priority
for Spain, where authorities are scrambling to prevent a rising
infection rate from becoming a full-blown fourth
wave.
The infection rate as measured over the past 14 days climbed
to 182 cases per 100,000 people on Thursday, as the uptick from
mid-March lows continued to accelerate.
The health ministry added 10,875 new infections to the
tally, in the largest one-day jump since the third wave receded.
The death toll rose by 149 to 76,328.
(Reporting by Emma Pinedo, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Guillermo
Martinez
Writing by Nathan Allen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
